THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. 307 character. He never forgot himself, as I say ; and so he never forgot to be graceful and tender, to wear the appearance of devoted intention. He was immensely pleased with his young lady ; Madame Merle had made him a present of incalculable value. What could be a finer thing to live with than a high spirit attuned to softness 1 For would not the softness be all for one's self, and the strenuousness for society, which admired the air of superiority ? What could be a happier gift in a companion than a quick, fanciful mind, which saved one repetitions, and reflected one's thought upon a scintillating surface ? Osmond disliked to see his thought reproduced literally that made it look stale and stupid ; he preferred it to be brightened in the reproduction. His egotism, if egotism it was, had never taken the crude form of wishing for a dull wife ; this lady's intelligence was to be a silver plate, not an earthen one a plate that he might heap up with ripe fruits, to which it would give a decora- tive value, so that conversation might become a sort of perpetual dessert. He found the silvery quality in perfection in Isabel ; he could tap her imagination with his knuckle and make it ring. He knew perfectly, though he had not been told, that the union found little favour among the girl's relations ; but he had always treated her so completely as an independent person that it hardly seemed necessary to express regret for the attitude of her family. Nevertheless, one morning, he made an abrupt allusion to it. " It's the difference in our fortune they don't like," he said. " They think I am in love with your money." " Are you speaking of my aunt of my cousin?" Isabel asked. " How do you know what they think 1 " "You have not told me that they are pleased, and when I wrote to Mrs. Touchett the other day she never answered my note. If they had been delighted I should have learnt it, and the fact of my being poor and you rich is the most obvious explanation of their want of delight. But, of course, when a poor man marries a rich girl he must be prepared for imputations. I don't mind them ; I only care for one thing your thinking it's all right. I don't care what others think. I have never cared much, and why should I begin to-day, when I have taken to myself a compensation for everything ? I won't pretend that I am sorry you are rich ; I am delighted. I delight in every- thing that is yours whether it be money or virtue. Money is a great advantage. It seems to me, however, that I have suffi ciently proved that I can get on without it ; I never in my life tried to earn a penny, and 1 ought to be less subject to suspicion X 2
